Oil Well Multiphase Flow
Application ID: 148541
At the bottom of an oil well, the pressure and temperature can differ significantly from those at the surface. As the oil mixture flows upward and the pressure decreases, phase changes may occur. At the wellbore inlet, the mixture may already contain both liquid and gas phases.
Accurately accounting for the influence of these phases on the overall pressure drop is essential for proper well design. This model predicts the pressure drop, temperature variation, and liquid holdup along the well using the Hagedorn–Brown correlation, an empirically based method for modeling multiphase flow in wells and pipes.
This application example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
- COMSOL Multiphysics® and
- Design Module and
- Pipe Flow Module and
- either the Battery Design Module, Chemical Reaction Engineering Module, Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module, or Liquid & Gas Properties Module
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.
